December 7, 2011

Google has quickly become one of the largest companies in the world, and with millions of people using their products every single day, it’s perhaps no surprise. Google has even been named ‘the centre of the internet’, probably because it’s the first port of call for most people whenever they want to find out, well, anything. In terms of the services they offer, Google has managed to position itself on both sides of the consumer divide: and perhaps the best example of this are the Adwords and Adsense program. The former allows advertisers to pay for clicks to their website, whilst the latter pays websites for the real estate to generate these clicks. So Google has a hand in the process every step of the way. The Adsense program has become more and more popular over recent years, and competition has risen with it. It’s getting harder to ‘win’ the clicks you need to make a good income – but it’s far from impossible. If you’re already an Adsense user, or you’re taking your first steps, the following five tips will help you maximise your efforts – and your payouts.

Choose your niche carefully

This one applies more to those who are about to launch an Adsense campaign. Success with Google is all about niche marketing and finding the right keywords. You need to find an area that has little competition, then exploit it. For people to click on ads, they need to be highly relevant to their interests, so by launching a niche website, your Adsense ads are bound to be more relevant to your audience. Your business niche could be anything from golf clothing to a cash for mobiles site. Google decides on the ads it serves based on the content of the site, so the more specific you are, the better quality ads you’ll get, and (hopefully) the more clicks each will receive.

Be selective with your placement

There’s a temptation when implementing Adsense on a site to simply throw as many ads as possible in there. There are a couple of problems with this: first, Google won’t show any more than three ad blocks per page; and second, visitors to your site will feel overwhelmed by ads and end up clicking off to go elsewhere. It’s a fine line between legitimate advertiser and spammer – so watch your footing.

Ad format is vital

Running a successful Adsense campaign is not about ‘tricking’ users into clicking on adverts, rather it’s about supplying them with a reason to click. Having said that, there’s no harm in helping them along. Google gives you a couple of choices of ad format, all of which will have a different success rate. You can choose image ads, text ads, or a mix of both. Remember that users are ‘trained’ to click on links when they see them, so choosing this form of ad is often a very successful technique.

Content is king

Your main objective with an Adsense campaign is to generate clicks and therefore income, but you don’t want to become a spammer. If people land on your website and see a page full of ads, they will undoubtedly click off rapidly. You can combat this with good content. It can’t be stressed enough how important quality, readable, content is. You can write list articles, how to pieces, photo posts – anything that people will like and want to come back to. This content will come much more naturally when you’re targeting a niche – so there’s another good reason to do so. Hire a professional copywriter if you don’t feel your own content will meet the grade. Quality content will typically find its way to the top and stay there for a longer period of time.

Monitor your progress

It’s all very well having your Adsense campaign up and running, but it’ll be for nought if you don’t monitor it. This is where a lot of site owners stumble: you need to keep an eye on what works and what doesn’t, then tweak your campaign accordingly. After a few weeks or months of this, you’re sure to strike Adsense gold – simply by knowing the types of content, ad formats, and placement that really works for your visitors (and their clicking fingers). Running a successful Adsense campaign is all about patience and trial and error. Set realistic long-term expectations, and in good time you should see a nice return on your efforts.